


First Officer Martin Crieff

by WingcommanderArthurShappey



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Gen, Skipthur, a tiny little bit, also is it sad? Is it happy? Nobody knows!, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 05:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4817006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingcommanderArthurShappey/pseuds/WingcommanderArthurShappey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why Martin will always be Skip.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Officer Martin Crieff

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YellowBananaOwl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowBananaOwl/gifts).



Arthur's first kindergarten teacher was called Mrs Lawrence-McDonald, but that's rather a mouthful, so Arthur was allowed to call her Mrs Lawrence.   
That is important because Arthur's first primary school teacher was also called Mrs Lawrence. And so was his second one. Come to think of it, he was allowed to call all his teachers Mrs Lawrence, well into secondary school, although now of course he realises that his thinking's been a bit wrong there. Because the truth is that, of course, only his first teacher was _really_ called Mrs Lawrence, and all the ones after that were just too nice to make him do something he didn't entirely understand.

To little Arthur, all teachers in the entire _world_ were called Mrs Lawrence, because that's the way he learned it, and his mind was really really set on doing everything the way he learned it, because that meant doing everything right. Or maybe, as he realises now - maybe it didn't. He's old enough now to know that different people have different names. But in a way, when he thinks back on his childhood, it seems like he was surrounded by Mrs Lawrences all the time, and that was good, because that's how it was supposed to be.

It's, sort of, the same with their pilots.  

They've had several Skips in the past. When Arthur remembers them, he thinks of them as their Captains, and being a Captain means being Skip, just like to little Arthur being a teacher meant being Mrs Lawrence.   
Well, not really.   
At least he knows now that there's a difference between titles and names.

It's really funny, because Douglas used to be Skip, for a while, and then he wasn't, and then Martin was Skip.

He still is, in a way. 

They talk on Skype all the time, which is brilliant because Arthur can tell from the quality of the video that Skip can afford a better computer now, and that makes him really happy. There was this one time a few weeks after Skip moved away, when Arthur realised that things really had changed.  
"Wow, Skip!" he sort-of yelled, very impressed by Skip's new brilliant uniform and the paramount hat, which, even though it was a First Officer's hat, looked more like a Captain's hat than Skip's MJN's Captain's hat had ever looked like a Captain's hat. "I've never  _seen_ such shiny sleeve-stripes! That's brilliant, Skip!"  
And just when he was about to show Skip his new cravat, Skip did the thing with his throat and laughed a little, but not in a particularly happy way, and said:   
"Well, I'm - I'm not really 'Skip' anymore, am I, Arthur?"  
And Arthur wanted to say that, yes, Skip, you'll always be Skip, you'll always be my brilliant, captain-y Skip, but instead he just nodded and smiled and then nodded again.  
"Right! Yeah, sorry, Martin! I keep forgetting! -- Ohhh, can you show me the Swiss money again? Mum's been really keen on getting some for when we surprise you with our visit next mon ..... Uh-oh..."  
  
  
  
Sometimes it's a bit difficult to wrap his head around the thought that one day, if Martin carries on being the brilliant pilot that he already is, he'll be someone else's Skip. That feels like a poke to Arthur's heart with something pointy and hot, but then he has to remind himself that this doesn't mean that Martin will ever  _not_ be  _his_ Skip.  
Because he will.  
Even if no one knows.  
  
  
  
"Arthur?"  
Douglas's voice cuts through the swirl of thoughts in Arthur's head, deep and sparkly, and Arthur smiles.  
"Yes, Skip?"  
"The lemon is in play."  
And the smile widens a little - or maybe a lot.   
Some things never change.  
_"Brilliant!!!"_


End file.
